Swim Lessons

Since the YMCA is literally three minutes away from my parents' house (and is totally awesome), we joined for the month we were home.  I went every morning and ran on the treadmill and then I went back in the afternoons with Dan and Ben to swim.  The outdoor pool area is like a water park, with slides and a lazy river with inner tubes.  One part of the lazy river had buckets that would dump randomly and we always seemed to get dumped on.  Dan was not a huge fan of that.  Every now and then, he'll still say, "One day the lazy river had buckets.  Oh, it's okay, it's just water." Yes, Dan, it's just water, stop acting like you're going to melt if it falls on your head.

The last week we were home, Dan took swim lessons.  He went for a half hour every afternoon with Miss Rhonda (or Miss Wanda, as Dan called her) for some one-on-one lessons.  He loved it and did great!  By the end, he could float on his back for 10 seconds, swim a few feet to get to the edge, swim with his face in the water, and was just all around more comfortable.  Maybe a little too comfortable, actually--now he runs straight for the ocean without even looking to see if someone is around to help him!

(Sorry the pictures and the video are pretty poor--not the best environment for picture-taking.)

Sedgwick Co. Park

Just a few miles down the road from my parents' house is an awesome playground at Sedgwick County Park.  It's new since the last time we were home and Dan absolutely loved it.  I only wish it had some kind of shade since it was pretty hot the whole time we were home, but other than that, it was the perfect place to expend some energy!

And some videos from a different trip to the playground:

A few phone pics from Kansas

As you might have guessed from the title of the post, here are a few random pictures taken with my phone while we were in Kansas:

Go 'Nuts!

Back in Wichita, we went to a Wingnuts game one night.  The Nuts are Wichita's professional baseball team.  The United Way had an ice cream social before the game for their donors so my parents got free tickets to the game.  Good thing we didn't pay for the tickets because the boys lasted one half of one inning.  But we had fun eating ice cream and meeting the mascot, Spinner, a giant squirrel.  Dan kept calling him a bear, but I don't think he minded.  Before the game started, I looked out on the field and there was Dan, trying to shake Spinner's hand.  Apparently my dad had lifted him over the wall so he could run on the field.  (Edited per my dad: There was an open gate near the dugout so Dan just walked right on through.  This kid has no fear.)  Gotta love minor league baseball and its relaxed security!

Notice Dan in the lower left corner, fascinated by Spinner 

Baby Ben

Since Dan is a little more interesting these days, picture-wise, I feel like we've been neglecting Ben.  So here's a post featuring the little dude!  He also had a great time at the farm, just crawling around the house and getting ferried to and fro by doting relatives.  He has no fear and will crawl over and under and through and up and down anything, so we had to be vigilant about watching the stairs and the toilets and the kitchen cabinets.  If he stays on the same schedule as Dan, he should walk in a couple of weeks, but I think  it won't be until closer to his first birthday.  Why walk when you can crawl at such a fast pace!

With his best buddy, Unc, the only person allowed to hold him for any length of time

More pool fun

After the trip to the big barn, the pool was far enough in the shade that Dan could go out and cool off.  He made the discovery that water from the hose tastes better than any other kind of water.  So he spent quite some time trying to figure out how best to get the water from the hose into his mouth.  He also liked to run through the little sprinkler and then fling his body over the edge of the pool.  And I wonder why his shins are always bruised....

Oh, Ben, nice of you to join us!

The Big Barn

At the end of Aunt and Unc's driveway is the big barn.  This barn has all the big farm equipment--tractors, combines, etc.  (The little barn closer to the house has my Granddad's old truck and the antique car that Unc restored.  And lots and lots of tools.)  Dan liked to walk down to the big barn once a day or so, to just check out the machinery.  He didn't really want to get too close to the big machines, but he liked sitting on the riding lawn mower and climbing around in the back of the flatbed pickup with the hay bale spikes.  Since not much else was going on, he usually had quite the entourage on his trips to the big barn!